CNN's GUT CHECK | for August 23, 2012 | 5 p.m.
– n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING: AKIN ASSESSING CANDIDACY WITH CONSERVATIVES IN FLORIDA…Facing pressure from Republican heavyweights in Washington to abandon his Missouri Senate bid, Rep. Todd Akin is huddling with top conservative activists in Tampa to assess whether to move forward with his embattled candidacy. Akin spent Wednesday night and Thursday in a series of private meetings at the two-day summit of the Council For National Policy (CNP), a secretive group of conservative leaders who are meeting in Florida before next week’s Republican National Convention. – Peter Hamby and Mark Preston

Washington (CNN) - Class size and what it means to how kids learn has been a long and hotly contested issue. President Barack Obama and many educators believe smaller classes, with fewer students per teacher, are the way to go.

Tampa, Florida (CNN) - Facing pressure from Republican heavyweights in Washington to abandon his Missouri Senate bid, Rep. Todd Akin is huddling with top conservative activists in Tampa to assess whether to move forward with his embattled candidacy.

Akin spent Wednesday night and Thursday in a series of private meetings at the two-day summit of the Council For National Policy (CNP), a secretive group of conservative leaders who are meeting in Florida before next week’s Republican National Convention.FULL POST

(CNN)-The campaign arm for the House Democrats announced Thursday an outreach program targeting Hispanic Americans, underscoring the importance of the key group of voters in November's election.

Titled "Mi Congreso Mi Voto" the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's focused effort targets 16 congressional districts across eight states with large Hispanic populations. The House is currently controlled by Republicans by a 242-193 margin.FULL POST

(CNN) - Senior Obama campaign officials said Mitt Romney will likely get a boost from the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida next week–but it won't last long.

With the Democratic convention following the GOP gathering one week later in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Obama campaign feels confident the attention surrounding their convention will halt any momentum Romney may gain as the new nominee.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – With 75 days left until Election Day, Team Obama's top ranks said Thursday they're encouraged by the campaign's standing among key voting constituencies, including women, African Americans, Latinos and younger members of the electorate.

At a briefing for reporters, senior campaign officials pointed to a consistent lead in national polling as well as a sufficiently favorable view of the president among undecided voters to argue the real story of the general race is one of consistency, not volatility.FULL POST

(CNN) – Rain, wind and high water will not prevent Mitt Romney from becoming his party's official presidential nominee next week in Tampa, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee said Thursday as Tropical Storm Isaac churned its way through the Caribbean.

"We do have contingency plans to deal with weather related and other circumstances that may occur to ensure that the business can go on at the RNC and Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will become our nominees," RNC communications director Sean Spicer said on CNN's "Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien."FULL POST

(CNN) – Even as the official Republican Party continues to try to derail Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin over his remarks about “legitimate rape,” a powerful force within the GOP has begun rallying to the candidate’s side: the party’s socially conservative base.

Powerful Christian activists in the GOP have begun pushing back against party leadership, alleging it has gone too far in trying to thwart Akin and it is attempting to sideline issues that social conservatives care about, such as abortion.

FORTUNE - Gawker today published what it's calling The Bain Files, hundreds of pages of audited financials and private placement memoranda for old Bain Capital funds. Let me save you some time: There is nothing in there that will inform your opinion of Mitt Romney.

How do I know? Because I saw many of the exact same documents months ago, after requesting them from a Bain Capital investor. What I quickly learned that that there was virtually nothing of interest, except perhaps for private equity geeks learning exactly how much Bain paid for a particular company back in 2006. Sure I would have loved the pageviews, but not at the expense of tricking readers into clicking on something of so little value.